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Kitchen Internet Kiosk?
ZeLonewolf asks: "My parents are remodeling and greatly expanding their kitchen, and my mom would like to add a kitchen internet kiosk that would allow her to look up recipes online and watch TV. Since this is a kitchen, the display and input devices should be appropriate for a kitchen environment, i.e. resistant to dust and moisture. To eliminate the need for a mouse I priced out a touch-screen monitor for $600. The keyboard would need to be sealed, something like ThinkGeek's roll-up keyboard. I haven't been able to find pre-made kiosks for this purpose. Four years ago, the Audrey internet appliance would have been perfect for this sort of thing. Is there anything modern that comes close?"
It would be better to seperate the TV and the computer. You will waste time and money trying to get them into one device. Get a cheap TV and wall mount it. Get a cheap computer (or laptop) and put it wherever. Maybe a toughbook?
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I'd like all of my data to be on one screen, too. It is just cheaper (and faster) to have more than one. If you can afford to put it on one, you wouldn't need this post on
That roll-up keyboard isn't sealed. It can certainly take a spill, but it's not submersible.
It is all one piece of rubber except near the cord entry, so you may be able to use some silicone to seal that up and get an entirely sealed keyboard. But also remember that the rubber on this thing isn't very thick or strong at all.
Ebay usually has Audreys available, don't forget the USB ethernet adapter. FWIW, I've got one in my kitchen, it works fine, but it's browser is pretty limited: no javascript/java, which may make some of the popular recipe sites hard to use. If you're doing your own recipe DB though, no problem.
As the other poster said, get a separate TV.
Check out the PowerDesk Kitchen made by PowerDesk for a kiosk/kitchen module...
I still use my Audrey! It's great for displaying recipes while cooking, seeing who called recently, checking the weather or to start playing mp3's through my home stereo.
This is the simple menu I created for my Audrey:
My Audrey
Live web cams
2 things...2 9/project_page_1.htm
1. doesn't look like he's going to be slashdotted
2. here is a coral cache http://mywebpages.comcast.net.nyud.net:8090/adamb
Two things.
1 - Keyboards are cheap. Very cheap. There are many sub $20 keyboards out there that have better feel than any of the fancy "sealed" ones I have ever used.
2 - Standard keyboards are amazingly hard to kill.
I dub thee... Sir Phobos, Knight of Mars, Beater of Ass.
You can go with a touchscreen and a waterproof USB keyboard, stash the mouse to the side for when you need it, and strap a mini under the cupboard. It'll fit nicely and pretty darn unobtrusively assuming the cabinets are deep enough to mount lights underneath.
You can mount the touchscreen alongside, on a swing mount that can let them stow it underneath the cupboard when not using the computer. I saw something similar done last week with a TV on This Old House.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
If you do then this is the toy for you. I ran across it a while ago and bookmarked it for my post-lottery kitchen remodel.
iCEBOX FlipScreen
Lilliput 7" touchscreens are only $279 at www.mp3car.com. Prefect for and undercabinet mounting. Combine that with a mini-itx board and you have a great kiosk or mp3 car player.
Other links of interest:
Linux Touch Screen HOWTO
EPIA HOWTO
Gentoo EPIA HOWTO
Nehemiah Hardware Entropy Generator
VIA PadLock support for Linux
How is this a troll? As far as I can tell, this would be a perfect role for the mac mini. Pair it with a touchscreen (or mouse and flatscreen monitor... I'm not sure there'd be much of a price difference) and you've got a relatively cheap, unobtrusive solution. I think this is sort of what the Mac Mini was supposed to do: make a cheap, unobtrusive, everyday sort of computer.
It's a bit pricey, it's based on WinCE, and it's on its fourth or fifth "focus shift", redesign, and/or corporate parent since I first found it years ago (researching alternatives to WebTV), but the iCEBOX may be the last remaining "internet appliance" on the market.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
I posted this the last time Slashdot talked about kitchen computers, might as well re-post...
:-)
_______
The problems with a kitchen computer are numerous:
- Space - No one wants to give up counter space for a computer, and besides it would be a pain to lean over (you don't sit down very much in the kitchen).
- Cleanliness - a keyboard and mouse would be ruined in short order.
- Noise - maybe a bit of a minor issue, but it's always better to have less noise.
I always thought the following would be cool:
Hardware
- Motherboard - a mini-ITX motherboard would be perfect (low energy, possible fanless operation, tiny, integrated everything).
- Enclosure - a slim box that would mount sideways, screwed to the side inside of one of the upper cabinets.
- Cooling - if heat is a issue, a plenum could run on the inside of the cabinet from holes on the bottom of the cabinet through the enclosure to the ceiling. A fan to draw air through (as well as the power supply, ethernet, etc.) would all be up out of sight
- Screen - an LCD panel with touch-like screen, mounted portrait layout, right on the cabinet door (so that it is right at eye level, and out of reach of the small kids).
- Pen - whether it is a true touch screen (like a PDA) or a wired light pen, I don't know, but this would be the primary input device.
- Speakers & microphone - small, slim models also mounted into the cabinet door.
- USB/Firewire connections - for quick upload & download to/from a PDA, camera, memory keychain, etc.
- another PC - running as a server.
Note that I don't want a hard drive, keyboard, or mouse. The most work in this would be physically installing the screen & speakers in the door so it looks good and the wires flex properly with the door swing, and with designing the motherboard enclosure and plenum. Oh, and wiring everything through the ceiling.
Software
- X-terminal setup - this machine would be boot-on-LAN, and all storage would be over Ethernet - run as much as possible on the server end.
- Handwriting recognition - since the machine would never be used for entering in large amounts of data (I don't code while cooking), there is no need for a keyboard (most entry would be on the server, and this would mostly be a "retrieval" device) - but there should be a handwriting code for when you need to enter in text, maybe like Palm's graffiti.
- Applications - I want this machine to do the following functions
- Organizer - standard PDA stuff (calendar, address, to-do, notes, calculator, etc.)
- Recipe database - duh! (and actually useful, given the screen's location)
- Message centre - retrieve both voice and email messages
- "Thumbtack" board - leave notes for others in the house (vocal or written)
- Browser - access to the Web and local files
- Live Broadcast - you could access TV, radio, etc. with server-based tuners
- Stored Entertainment - play back mp3, divx, etc.
No word processing, spreadsheets, photo editing, games, etc. here! Just stuff that makes sense in the kitchen (communication, passive information and entertainment).
Even if all the pieces were in place for doing everything I want here, there would be a lot of work to build an interface that would pull it all together nicely. All apps would be set up for as little data entry as possible (tapping on buttons should be the main interaction).
Of course, all this is way beyond my abilities, time, and cash flow to actually do. But that's my dream kitchen machine.
____________
Since I posted that over 2 years ago, nothing's changed. The configuration is still exactly what I want, and I still have no way to build it
Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
Stroker Ace: "I know you! You're Audrey Meadows!".
Aubrey James: "No, I'm Audrey James... AUBREY James... Schmuck!"
-FB0
Ligaguinggligagiggagoogoogwillgo
No, seriously:
http://www.lginternetfamily.co.uk/fridge.asp
I could only find a UK link for it, but it seems like it might serve what you want, although I'm not sure about watching TV...
- Built-in TV tuner for watching TV broadcasts
- Built-in MP3 player for downloading music
- Internet Radio for listening to radio stations
- Built-in video camera for taking still photos
- Built-in CCD camera
.sigs are for losers
I suggest getting a little TV and mounting it under a cupboard. Get a printer for a PC in another room and bring recipes to the kitchen that way.
-Peter